Optima Health members can now get coverage on the Southside, Eastern Shore or Peninsula through a new agreement signed Monday between the health insurance provider and Riverside Health System.

The agreement designates Riverside as an in-network provider and fills the last gap in Optima’s coverage in the greater Hampton Roads area.

Leadership from Riverside and Optima made the agreement official Monday with a signing ceremony at Christopher Newport University.

They billed the agreement as a commitment to ensuring communities have as many choices as possible for health care.

Dennis Matheis, president of Optima, said the agreement created more options for thousands of people and employers, potentially offering them better access to health care and facilities closer to home.

Mike Dacey, chief clinical operations officer for Riverside, said people with serious illnesses that prevent them from traveling far or people who prefer to get treatment close to home, friends and family would now have more options through the agreement.

He added that the agreement was the right thing to do for patients and will “help keep insurance premium costs down in the longer term.”

Riverside’s roughly 600 facilities, hospitals physician practices and other providers are all now part of the Optima network, according to a news release. Riverside is concentrated on the Peninsula, with providers extending out into the Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck and Eastern Shore.

In total, Optima consists of more than 26,000 in-network providers and 510,000 members. Major area hospital systems in the Optima network include Sentara, Bon Secours, Chesapeake Regional and the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.

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